ESTIMATED HISTORIC EMISSIONS OF FLUOROCARBONS FROM THE EUROPEAN-UNION

Emissions of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCF Cs) and one hydrofluorocarbon (HFC-134a) from Europe have been estimat ed for the years 1986-1996 with a precision in most cases better than +/- 20%. During that period, sales of CFCs have reduced to virtually z ero but they are still being emitted from the ''bank'' in use in equip ment. These emissions are calculated to have fallen dramatically; howe ver the largest releases are still of CFC-11, at 44,000 tonnes in 1996 . Significant contributions to the total emission of ozone depleting s ubstances from the European Union during 1996 were also made by HCFC-2 2 (35,000 tonnes) and CFC-12 (9000 tonnes); releases of other CFCs and HCFCs into the atmosphere from the EU are markedly less. On the other hand, emissions of HFC-134a (which is not an ozone depleting substanc e) would appear to be growing rapidly and could have reached 12,000 to nnes yr(-1) in 1996. HFC-134a is a replacement for CFC-12, releases of which are calculated to have declined much more than the growth in HF C-134a. This leads to the conclusion that substitution of one by the o ther has been much less than 100% and is actually smaller than had bee n projected by market research in the early 1990s. (C) 1998 Elsevier S cience Ltd. All rights reserved.